Oyster-knife



(No Model.) J. s. WOOD. OYSTER KNIFE. No. 469,312. Patented Feb. 23, 1892.

, a I. 01 l/// v u F B s w 1W Q UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES S. WOOD, OF NORTHPOBT, NEYV YORK;

OYSTER-KNIFE.

SFECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,312, dated February 23, 1892.

Application iiled April 16, 1891. Serial No. 389,216. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES S. WOOD, a citizen of the United States,residing atNorthport, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Oyster- Knife, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to oyster-openers; and the object of the same is to produce certain improvements in devices of this character.

To this end the invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as illustrated on the sheet of drawings, wherein-- Figure 1 is a general perspective view of this device in position upon an operators hand and showing the oyster with its bill as ready to be broken off. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the device with the mov- Fig. 3 is a central transverse section.

able jaw open and the strap in elevation. Fig. i is a perspective detail of the movable jaw.

Referring to the said drawingathe letter II designates the handle of this device, having a stationary jaw J at its lower end, of the shape best seen in Fig. 2, having an oyster-opening knife K removably screwed into its upper end and having a strap S secured to its back and provided with a buckle B.

M is a movable jaw, whose head is of the shape best seen in Figs. 1 and 4. and is centrally pivoted at P to the head of the station ary jaw J, preferably has a forwardly-extending flange F passing over the head of the stationary jaw, and is provided with an operating-handle D, as shown.

L is a leaf-spring riveted at its upper end to the handle H and its lower free end resting in a notch N in the head of the movable jaw, so as to normally hold the lips or teeth T of the two jaws open.

In operation the user passes his hand through the strap S and around the handle H with his fingers bearing upon the operatinghandle D. The oyster O is then broughtinto place with the other hand and its bill passed between the teeth T. The fingers are then compressed, aswill be clear from Fig. l, which draws the teeth together and bites off the bill. The knife K is then inserted in the bill where bitten off, whereby the oyster can be opened in the usual and well-known manner.

Heretofore considerable difficulty has been experienced in the use of ordinary oysteropeners, owing to the fact that they had to be or at least were frequently shifted in the operators hand in order to serve as a striking implement to break the shell, that an upwardly-projecting stud or knife was necessary to lay the oyster upon when this striking was done, and more especially that the chips and pieces of shell broken off by such striking got into the shelled oysters to the annoyance of the consumer. iVith this improved device the small piece bitten otf of the bill drops into the box at once, there is no danger of injury to the operator, and far greater speed can be attained in opening oysters than wit-h the devices heretofore in use.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention.

WVhat is claimed as new is The hereindescribed oyster-opener, the same comprising a handle H, having a stationary jaw J at its lower end, a knife K, removably connected with and projecting from itsupper end, a strap S, secured to the back of this handle and having abuckle B, a movable jaw M, whose head is provided with a notch N and also has a flange F passing around the head of the stationary jaw, said jaws having opposing teeth T, a leaf-spring connected at one end with a handle H and its other end engaging said notch to hold the teeth normally separated, and an operatinghandle D, rising from said movable jaw, all as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JAMES S. WOOD. \Vitnesses:

W. H. SAMMINs, CHAS. L. SMITH, 

